I really need to find a website that helps my spoken mandarin. I would like to learn sentences not just one word at a time. Repeating what the speaker says seems to be effective. Duolingo has an effective system but they don't have mandarin. Advice much appreciated. Thanks

I should also note that my mandarin is pretty basic. I am doing HSK level 2 right now.

There are many websites that have audio of sentences spoken in Mandarin. I think the ChinesePod lessons are quite good, or you can just have a look at something like the Conversations section of nciku: http://www.nciku.com/conversation

If you're specifically referring to the feature of Duolingo where it records your voice and then tells you if it's correct, well I'm going to have to disagree about it's effectiveness. Sometimes it accepts my answer seemingly regardless of what I say. One time I just let my cat make a noise and it accepted that. Just my personal experience, but seems completely useless to me.

Your profile says you are in China. If that's true, then really you already have access to the best resource for improving spoken Mandarin: Chinese people!

Thanks that nciku is just what I am looking for. I didn't use the record voice option in the past on duolingo so I am not aware about its effectiveness. I'm back in the States for summer but headed back to China in a month and just want to keep practicing my spoken mandarin.

Use chinesepod, the second best resource for improving spoken mandarin all the way, that of course after talking with native speakers.
I have found that the best method for me is:
1. Choose a lesson according to my level.
2. Study all the vocabulary in skritter.
3. Listen to the podcast.
4. Listen to the review and repeat yourself until you are satisfied with your tones pronunciation (REALLY IMPORTANT) and try to translate all the sentences they give you in english to mandarin before checking the correct answer.
*If you chose the correct level for your mandarin current stage you will be able to guess 80%+ of the translation sentences, also know most of the vocabulary included in this.
5. Put all the vocabulary you don't know into skritter. (again, shouldn't be too much if you chose correct level).
6. Study vocabulary
7. Do again the review (this time mistakes will be really scarce)
8. Repeat this proccess for one month, one lesson a day and you will notice a GREAT improvement in both your spoken and reading mandarin.

;)

This was so helpful. Thanks a lot

湖安马林,
Do you just include the ChinesePod vocabulary in your normal queue, or do you spend time just doing the vocabulary for that particular CPod lesson in Skritter?

Do you think there is a big advantage to Skrittering the vocab before listening to the lesson? Since CPod is supposed to be "top-down" I would think listening to the lesson would come first. At least that's the habit I have gotten into. I think the advantage is that when I then review the vocab, (in Skritter or Pleco) I have some context for it and at least one example of the word's usage in mind. (Having example sentences in Skritter is really great now too.)

I am going through a textbook now, and trying to decide if it is better to work on clearing my queue or drilling solely on the vocab list for that textbook. I suppose the ideal would be to do both but I don't seem to find enough time. Any advice?

podster, if you cannot clear your "items due" on a regular basis then you should not add more words. An SRS does not work very well if you ignore its scheduling. You can remove words (actually lists) from your studies if you think it's better to focus on your new vocab lists instead.

Thanks, DependableSkeleton. I guess I already knew that mixing modes was less than optimal. I can't remember now if Skritter still has a "cram" mode or a way to study a list without it impacting the existing queue. But that's probably not a good compromise either, since the effectiveness of the SRS depends on both the software (Skritter) and user behavior. I guess I will have to just knuckle down and clear the queue. Failing that, how, specifically, do I remove the elements from a specific list in order to lessen my queue?

SRS system works on basis don't see anything tested outside of SRS - I think if want to try retain everything, may be best to clear the queue on items that you are not seeing outside SRS, as the SRS will show you stuff you are seeing outside SRS too early as a rule. Obviously, clearing the queue is best, this is second best. I prefer to learn vocab outside skritter, and only add when I know it, therefore get context first, but suppose both ways work.

podster, there are a couple ways to remove items from your Skritter studies. The first way is to ban the item. The second way is to remove an entire list from your studies. Then all of the words on that list get removed, except for words that also appear on another list.

If you created a list, you can also edit the list to delete the undesired words.

If you didn't create the list, you can make a copy of it (remix) and then edit it.